POTD: B&T VP9 Veterinary Pistol

My friend Meng took this picture at the DSA (Defense Services Asia) show in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. DSA is sort of like Shot Show but for military and LE only. We posted an article about it back in 2014. the VP9 is a modern version of the Welrod. However the VP9 can be broken down into three components: the silencer, receiver and magazine grip. The VP9 uses a magazine but it is basically a bolt action pistol. By not having any reciprocating parts, it is very quiet.

Here is a video demonstrating this pistol.

Here is a PDF from B&T about their Veterinary pistol. They market the pistol as a tool for dispatching wounded animals discretely.

B&T has recognized the need for law enforcement, veterinary services and hunters to have a very quiet single shot pistol for use when putting down injured animals and wounded game. It is commonly understood that an injured animal is the most dangerous animal and thus is very risky to get close to. There have been many cases of injured animals panicking and attacking humans. On the other hand one does not want to have the noise of gunfire disturbing the environment and bystanders, especially in urban areas. That is why B&T has designed the VP9. In most cases a pistol was designed and the suppressor was considered only as an afterthought. In this case however, both gun and suppressor were developed simultaneously to produce the most quite 9mm pistol in the world today. The VP9 comes with two suppressors. One made of alloy for training and a second with replaceable baffles for field use. Along the 50 cm barrel a number of holes have been drilled permitting the gases to escape into the expansion chamber. This will release the gases so that the round that is being fired never reaches supersonic speed even with standard FMJ ammunition. There is so little gas exiting the field suppressor that there is actually a quick jet-type sound as the trapped gases are released when working the action. It is almost like a trademark of sound… This produces a noise level as low as 129 dB A using standard 124 gr. FMJ ammunition. This reduction can be further decreased as much as 4 dB A by using subsonic ammunition. This noise is about the same as a car door closing. This sound level will not cause any undue stress on the environment or among the general public. There is no supersonic crack. After firing the first shot the operator then uses the support hand to manually manipulate the bolt behind the suppressor. The gun is so quiet in fact that the noise of the bolt being unlocked and cycled actually makes more noise that the bullet being fired. It is a hand operated device which some people have compared it to a bolt action. Another interesting point is that since the projectile leaves the barrel and the suppressor at subsonic velocity the penetration is much less than that of a supersonic round thus minimizing the chance of a ricochet or stray round going off in an unintended direction.

Advertisement

Anon. E Maus

Seen it before, but it’s still damn neat.

I think I would want it to have a proper trigger-guard for safety though, as well as a small little flat-ish protruding piece on the bolt-knob, not a big one, can just be the size of the tip one’s pinky finger, at a slight angle, just enough so that you can get an easier grip, you even see the guy fiddle a bit in the video, I think it would be an improvement.

Nicholas C

I didn’t notice it until you mentioned something, in the photo above taken by Meng, the VP9 has a trigger guard. The other photos it does not. So I am sure B&T addressed this concern at least for DSA.

TheNotoriousIUD

“They market the pistol as a tool for dispatching wounded animals discretely.”

Right.

M

Humans are animals

Tassiebush

Wombat “he eats roots* and leaves”

*Australian usage of word

Tassiebush

If only it wasn’t breaking the law in so many ways, I reckon I would find one of these more useful than all of my other guns. Possums, wallabies and ducks won’t shoot themselves you know!

Nicholas C

How is it breaking the law?

Tassiebush

Well I live in Tasmania, Australia not the USA so no handgun hunting, no suppressors and the fact that I’ve got those animals in my front and backyard on the edge of rural suburban area so it’s too close to roads and dwellings but I could use this gun to fill my freezers and get furs more conveniently than any of my shotguns or rifles. If only! (sigh)

John Yossarian

In other news, I hear Australia has quite the culture of improvised firearms…

While I whole heartedly sympathize with the plight of the citizens of Australia as a result its deplorable gun confiscation and ban, I have an idea that might help you with your particular issues. Traps.
Utilizing either premade or home built snares and traps you should be able to gather plenty of the wildlife you describe both for their meat and pelts. Trapping has a long and storied tradition amongst those seeking to do exactly what you are describing. A secondary benefit of using traps is that it can be accomplished covertly without advertising your taking of small to medium game. Even large game animals can be taken by trapping methods. Until your citizens realize the gigantic mistake they’ve made by allowing themselves to be sheepishly disarmed perhaps this method will help your immediate needs and improve your food stocks and possibly your wallet, depending on the laws regarding the sale of hides and furs. I admittedly do not know what the status of those laws are in Australia. However as I mentioned, traps are easily used covertly at least in order to fill your freezers.

Tassiebush

I still go hunting, it’s just not as convenient or productive as my front or back yard would be. I have pondered traps. My main concern is that I don’t have a lot of spots not in view of others. Cool option though and it would be possible to make something. Come to think of it if I made box traps that’d work if they didn’t look trap like.

Ryan

Snares are very easily hidden. As would be a simple deadfall trap. Know one who didn’t already know what they were looking at would know what one was. If asked just complain of nuisance pests. Say you read how to kill them online and figured you give it a try.
I think a decent deadfall trap would be best for you, though might catch a local cat now and then. The deadfall will quickly silence the animal as opposed to a snare which might only catch a leg. If you’re very worried about your neighbors, get to know them, perhaps even offer to share. It’s certainly worth a try. Good luck!

TheNotoriousIUD

Im sure the Israelis and many other operations sections of intelligence agencies would find it useful as well.

randomswede

This screams out for a biathlon like reloading lever.
Might be tricky to get a short enough pull on it that it beats the original action.

Agreed this concept calls for a straight pull. It could perhaps have a slide that has cam slots to turn a lug on the bolt so it works like a straight pull.

randomswede

The cam to unlock/lock should be the easy part, I think you’d also want a 2:1 lever or gearing to trade distance for force and the entire arrangement has to be a silent as the pistol that’s probably the tricky part.
Sadly at an MSRP of $2000 you could probably do more with less starting from another platform.

Pete M

One of the most niche NFA items in production. I want one. Badly.

B&T needs to start making them in the US.

Nicholas C

The problem I have is the rumored price tag. $2000 USD!!! For what!!!??? Ok let’s say the Suppressor is magic and costs $1000. I do not see $1000 of bolt action 9mm. Let’s skew it higher. $1500 for the can and $500 for the pistol?

I say we import just the pistol. And make them 1/2-28 so they work with any suppressor. And sell them for a couple hundred dollars.

Pete M

Agreed. I’d say my personal upper limit is $800-$1000 total.

B&T is always priced on the high-side.

And I have to admit, part of the reason I want one is because I can’t have one.

Gorilla Biscuit

Any suppressor that uses rubber baffles, is not magic.

Budogunner

Rubber baffles? Do you mean wipes?

Ryan

Not magic but definitively more quiet than a suppressor that does not use wipes, especially for the first shot. Not trying to troll or argue your point, simply adding a bit of information to the discussion.
And yes, this weapon is a fine refinement of an already highly effective WWII design, but it is most certainly extremely overpriced given it’s limited applications.

Gorilla Biscuit

I agree that wiped cans are quiet, but they also like to fling projectiles in odd directions and have a very limited range. Limited life span, limited range due to significant projectile instability. There is a warning attached to the Gemtec Aurora in stating specifically this.

Harrison Jones

I’d guess the high cost is due to the small production numbers. While a cool gun even at say $700 it’d be nearly as hard to sell as at $2000.

steph

I think it’s expensive for two reasons.
1-Everything is expensive in Switzerland.
2-I think there are not many products like this in this niche. The cities or departments who would need this would spend the money for it rather than buying a regular handgun + silencer that would look out of place in a veterinary office for exemple.
They don’t care that ‘regular’ shooters don’t look at this one because of the price tag, they make fine suppressors and semi auto firearms for this other category. And the odd collector will just save up and buy it.

Shocked_and_Amazed✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ

Now that’s a plan. For a few dollars more, you could make it caliber interchangeable

john huscio

Wonder if they’ll have legal problems with HK..

SP mclaughlin

I think this actually came out before the VP9 striker fired pistol. Beside, B&T makes a lot of accessories for HK products anyway.

NorwayBM

This is the reason the HK VP9 is called SFP9 in Europe.

Jonathan Ferguson

The original Welrod breaks down in exactly the same manner, due to the majority of the grip being the magazine, & because the suppressor unit, relying upon rubber wipes for maximum effect, had to be readily replaceable.

Skipper Lee

The VP9 was locked away in their display shelf at DSA, but the folks were kind enough to take it out for a photo and let me get a feel of its manual action. That, and I’m curious what’s included in the case that’s on display.

Pardon the photo quality though.

Tassiebush

What did the action feel like to manipulate? I always imagine the bolt would be a tad stiff to turn.

Skipper Lee

It was not as difficult as I expected, twist-pull-push-twist, but the pistol was empty at the time. Not sure if it’d feel different with a spent case in the chamber and rounds fed up the magazine.

Tassiebush

Thank you for that!

Nicholas C

From what I have read online, there are two suppressors. One is for practice and the other is for truly quiet dispatching.

Kjk

That’s the quietest suppressed pistol I’ve heard

Mikael Sundström

50 cm barrel?

Lew Siffer

This is how we dispatched animals:
1. Put in earplugs.
2. Tell bystanders to move way back.
So what function does this pistol serve again? Oh yes, spends taxpayers’ money.

stfram1

Easy enough to import this with the fake suppressor, and offer the “live” suppressor at a later time, made by a US company.